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DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees

concerning control of administrative procedures

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Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 3, 2008 Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

The Government promulgates the Decree to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP of June 8, 2010, on control of administrative procedures; Decree No. 20/2008/ND-CP of February 14, 2008, on receipt and handling of individuals’ and organizations’ opinions and petitions on administrative regulations; Decree No. 36/2012/ND-CP of April 18, 2012, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of ministries and ministerial-level agencies; and Decree No. 55/2011/ND-CP of July 4, 2011, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of legal organizations.

Article 1. To amend, supplement or annul a number of articles and clauses of the Government’s Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP of June 8, 2010, on control of administrative procedures, as follows:

1. To amend Article 5 as follows:

“Article 5. Agencies and units controlling administrative procedures

1. The Ministry of Justice shall assist the Government in uniformly performing the state management of control of administrative procedures.

The Bureau of Administrative Procedure Control under the Ministry of Justice shall advise and assist the Minister of Justice in performing the state management of control of administrative procedures.

2. Legal organizations in ministries and ministerial-agencies shall advise and assist ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies in performing the state management of control of administrative procedures in the sectors and fields under their management.

Administrative Procedure Control Divisions of legal organizations in ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall advise and assist heads of legal organizations in controlling administrative procedures.

3. Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall advise and assists provincial-level People’s Committees in performing the state management of control of administrative procedures in localities.

Administrative Procedure Control Divisions of provincial-level Departments of Justice shall advise and assist directors of provincial-level Departments of Justice in controlling administrative procedures.

4. The Minister of Justice shall define the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Bureau of Administrative Procedure Control; assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Minister of Home Affairs in, guiding the functions, tasks, powers, organizational structures and payrolls of Administrative Procedure Control Divisions of legal organizations in ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level Departments of Justice.”

2. To amend Article 9 as follows:

“Article 9. Contribution of opinions on administrative procedure-related provisions in draft legal documents

1. In addition to the contribution of opinions on the contents of draft legal documents in accordance with the law on promulgation of legal documents, the following agencies shall give opinions on the contents of administrative procedure-related provisions in draft legal documents:

a/ The Ministry of Justice shall give opinions on administrative procedures specified in draft legal documents submitted by the Government to the National Assembly or the National Assembly Standing Committee, and draft legal documents to be promulgated by the Government or the Prime Minister;

b/ Legal organizations in ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall give opinions on administrative procedures specified in draft legal documents to be promulgated by ministers or heads of ministerial-level agencies;

c/ Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall give opinions on administrative procedures specified in draft legal documents to be promulgated by provincial-level People’s Committees.

2. The contents of opinions on administrative procedure-related provisions mainly cover the matters specified in Articles 7 and 8 of this Decree.

When necessary, agencies defined in Points a, b and c, Clause 1 of this Article shall collect opinions of related agencies and organizations and entities to be affected by the administrative procedure-related provisions through holding consultation, conferences and workshops or using questionnaires issued and published by the Ministry of Justice on the national database of administrative procedures, and summarize and forward the opinions to the drafting agencies.

3. The drafting agencies shall study, receive and explain opinions of the consulted agencies prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.”

3. To amend Clause 2, Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10. Assessment of impacts of administrative procedures

2. The impacts of administrative procedures specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be assessed by using the forms issued by the Minister of Justice.”

4. To amend Article 11 as follows:

“Article 11. Appraisal of administrative procedure-related provisions

In addition to appraisal of the contents of draft legal documents, appraising agencies shall appraise administrative procedure-related provisions and include such appraisal in appraisal reports.

2. The appraisal of administrative procedures mainly covers the consideration of the criteria specified in Article 10 of this Decree.

3. In addition to the dossiers of request for appraisal as prescribed by the law on promulgation of legal documents, appraisal-requesting agencies shall enclose a written assessment of impacts of administrative procedures as specified in Article 10 of this Decree.

Appraising agencies may refuse dossiers of request for appraisal if draft legal documents containing administrative procedure-related provisions are enclosed with a written assessment of impacts of administrative procedures and opinions of the consulted agencies prescribed in Clause 1, Article 9 of this Decree.”

5. To adjust the time limit for issuing promulgation decisions specified in Article 15 as follows:

“Article 15. Decisions to promulgate administrative procedures

A decision to promulgate an administrative procedure of an agency defined in Clause 1, Article 13 of this Decree must be issued at least 20 (twenty) working days before the effective date of the legal document containing provisions related to such administrative procedure.

A decision to promulgate an administrative procedure of an agency defined in Clause 2 or 3 Article 13 of this Decree must be issued at least 5 (five) working days before the effective date of the legal document containing provisions related to such administrative procedure.”

6. To amend Clause 2 Article 22 as follows:

“Article 22. Opinions and petitions on administrative procedures in the process of implementation

2. The Ministry of Justice shall establish and maintain a portal for reporting on opinions, petitions and handling results concerning administrative procedures on the national database of administrative procedures, and proactively collect individuals’ and organizations’ opinions on administrative procedures mentioned in draft legal documents which are requested by drafting agencies for consultation as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 9 of this Decree.”

7. To annul Clause 5, Article 29.

8. To amend Clause 4, Article 30 as follows:

“Article 30. Review and assessment plans

4. Based on the direction of the Government or the Prime Minister and the requirement of administrative reform, the Ministry of Justice shall formulate a key review plan and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval.”

9. To amend and supplement Article 31 as follows:

“Article 31. Handling of review and assessment results

1. Based on the result of review and assessment of administrative procedures, provincial-level People’s Committees shall amend, supplement, replace, cancel or annul administrative procedures according to their competence; and request ministries and ministerial-level agencies to consider and handle of the results of review and assessment of administrative procedures under the latter’s management.

2. Based on the results of review and assessment of administrative procedures of ministries and ministerial-level agencies and requests of provincial-level People’s Committees, ministers or heads of ministerial-level agencies shall amend, supplement, replace, cancel or annul administrative procedures according to their competence, or summarize plans on amendment, supplementation, replacement, cancellation or annulment of administrative procedures and relevant regulations under the management of the Government or the Prime Minister and send them to the Ministry of Justice for consideration and assessment before submission to the Government or the Prime Minister.

A dossier to be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for consideration and assessment comprises:

- A draft report on amendment, supplementation, replacement, cancellation or annulment of administrative procedures;

- A draft document approving the plan on simplification of administrative procedures;

- A report on the review results of the ministry or ministerial-level agency;

- A report on the review results of the provincial-level People’s Committee and related agencies, enclosed with the plan on simplification of administrative procedures approved by the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee or the head of such agency (if any).

Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall study, receive and explain the Ministry of Justice’s opinions on the plan on amendment, supplementation, replacement, cancellation or annulment of administrative procedures and relevant regulations under the management of the Government or the Prime Minister.

3. The Ministry of Justice shall monitor, urge and examine ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees in implementing the Government’s or the Prime Minister’s decisions approving plans on amendment, supplementation, replacement, cancellation or annulment of administrative procedures and relevant regulations.”

10. To amend Article 35 as follows:

“Article 35. Information and reporting regime

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall, biannually or upon request, report on the situation and results of controlling administrative procedures of their ministries, sectors and localities to the Ministry of Justice.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall, periodically or upon request, summarize and report on the situation and results of controlling administrative procedures of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees to the Government or the Prime Minister.

3. Contents of a periodical report:

a/ Situation and results of controlling administrative procedure-related regulations, indicating the total number of administrative procedures having impacts assessed and the total number of issued legal documents containing administrative procedure-related provisions in the reporting period;

b/ Situation, results and number of administrative procedures promulgated; and the publicity and update of administrative procedures to the national database of administrative procedures;

c/ Situation and results of implementing administrative procedures in agencies or localities, indicating the commendation of cadres and civil servants and the handling of those violating regulations on control of administrative procedures (if any);

d/ Review and simplification of administrative procedures (if any);

dd/ Problems and difficulties in the process of controlling administrative procedures (if any);

e/ Situation and results of receiving opinions and petitions on administrative procedures and handling results;

g/ Public information in support of the control of administrative procedures;

h/ Other contents as requested by the Ministry of Justice or directed by the Prime Minister.

4. The Ministry of Justice shall create, and guide the use of, the form of the report specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

5. The situation and results of controlling administrative procedures must be timely, accurately and regularly updated on the Ministry of Justice’s website of administrative procedures and in other mass media.”

11. To add the following Article 35a:

“Article 35a. Examination of the control of administrative procedures

1. The examination of the control of administrative procedures shall be conducted annually or extraordinarily as follows:

a/ The Bureau of Administrative Procedure Control shall assist the Minister of Justice in examining the control of administrative procedures at ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees;

b/ Legal organizations of ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall assist ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies in examining the control of administrative procedures at their departments, bureaus and units;

c/ The Provincial-level Departments of Justice shall assist provincial-level People’s Committees in examining the control of administrative procedures at provincial departments, committees and sectors, and district- and commune-level People’s Committees.

2. The examination contents include:

a/ The direction, administration and organization of the control of administrative procedures;

b/ The control of administrative procedure-related provisions in draft legal documents;

c/ The control of implementation of administrative procedures;

b/ The review and assessment of administrative procedures;

dd/ The receipt and handling of individuals’ and organizations’ opinions and petitions on administrative regulations;

e/ Other contents requested by the Ministry of Justice.”

12. Other amendments:

a/ To replace the phrase “the Government Office” in Clause 1, Article 26 and Clause 2, Article 36 with the phrase “the Ministry of Justice”;

b/ To replace the phrase “the Administrative Procedure Control Agency” in Article 24, Clause 3, Article 27, and Clause 3, Article 30 with the phrase “the Ministry of Justice”;

c/ To replace the phrase “the Administrative Procedure Control Agency” in Clause 2, Article 26 with the phrase “the Bureau of Administrative Procedure Control”;

b/ To remove the phrase “and the Administrative Procedure Control Agency” in Clause 3, Article 29.

Article 2. To amend a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 20/2008/ND-CP of February 14, 2008, on receipt and handling of individuals’ and organizations’ opinions and petitions on administrative regulations, as follows:

1. To replace the phrase “the Government Office” in Clause 1, Article 8, Clause 1, Article 13, Article 20 and Article 26 with the phrase “the Ministry of Justice”; to remove the phrase “the Government Office” in Clause 4, Article 13.

To replace the phrase “the Minister-Director of the Government Office” in Article 17 with the phrase “the Minister of Justice”.

To replace the phrase “the offices of ministries or ministerial-level agencies” in Clause 2, Article 8 with the phrase “the legal organizations of ministries and ministerial-level agencies”.

To replace the phrase “the offices of provincial-level People’s Committees” in Clause 3, Article 8 with the phrase “the provincial-level Departments of Justice”.

2. To amend Article 22 as follows:

“Article 22. Information and reporting regime

The regime of information and reporting on the situation and results of the receipt and handling of opinions and petitions on administrative regulations of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees complies with Article 35 of the Government’s Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP of June 8, 2010, on control of administrative procedures (which was amended in Clause 10, Article 1 of this Decree).”

Article 3. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 36/2012/ND-CP of April 18, 2012, defining the functions, tasks and organizational structures of ministries and ministerial-level agencies, as follows:

“Article 17. Ministry’s Office

1. A ministry’s office is an organization of a ministry, functioning to give general advice on work programs and plans and serve activities of the ministry; and assist the minister in summarizing, monitoring and urging organizations and units of the ministry to implement the ministry’s approved work programs and plans.”

Article 4. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 55/2011/ND-CP of July 4, 2011, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of legal organizations, as follows:

1. To add the following Clause 3a to Article 3:

“Article 3. Tasks and powers of legal organizations in ministries and ministerial-level agencies

3a. Regarding the control of administrative procedures:

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related units in, assisting ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies in controlling administrative procedures in the sectors or fields under their management in accordance with law.”

2. To add the following Clause 3a to Article 5:

“Article 5. Tasks and powers of legal organizations in general departments and equivalent units, and departments of ministries and ministerial-level agencies

3a. Regarding the control of administrative procedures:

To assist general directors or directors in coordinating with Legal Departments in ministries and ministerial-level agencies in controlling administrative procedures in accordance with law.”

3. To add the following Clause 3a to Article 6:

“Article 6. Tasks and powers of legal organizations in professional agencies of provincial-level People’s Committees

3a. Regarding the control of administrative procedures:

a/ To assist heads of agencies in coordinating with provincial-level Departments of Justice in controlling administrative procedures in accordance with law;

b/ To make reports on the situation and results of controlling administrative procedures, and submit them to heads of agencies for forwarding to provincial-level Departments of Justice for summarization and reporting to provincial-level People’s Committees.”

Article 5. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect on July 1, 2013.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree./.